Killester Garden Village: The Lives of Great War Veterans and Their Families

The Killester Garden Village was completed 100 years ago, providing housing for Irish WWI ex-servicemen. These men, in their mid-twenties and often poor, enlisted in the British forces and survived the war. However, they returned to a hostile Ireland that had changed politically. During the War of Independence, Irish ex-servicemen faced danger and were killed by the IRA. This book profiles 300 of these brave men and women, bringing their stories to life and ensuring their place in modern Irish history.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 336 pages
Publication date: 24 August 2023
Publisher: The Liffey Press

One hundred years ago, the largest Irish WWI ex-servicemen housing estate on the island of Ireland, Killester Garden Village, was completed. Comprising 247 bungalows, it was the flagship estate for returning Irishmen from what some dubbed 'the war to end all wars'. Who were these men who lived in Killester Garden Village? In their mid-twenties, likely poor, living in tenements or urban dwellings, unskilled or working as casual labourers, they enlisted in the British forces at the outbreak of WWI. Then, having survived the terror of that war, they came home to a hostile Ireland that had politically changed in their absence. In fact, the Irish men and women who served in the British forces during WWI came home to a different country. During their absence in the battlefields of France, Flanders, and Gallipoli, a terrible beauty had been born. And during the ensuing War of Independence, Irish ex-servicemen had to keep their heads down. Of the 196 civilians killed by the IRA between 1919 and 1921 for alleged spying activities for the British forces, between 100 and 120 were ex-servicemen. Possibly even worse, as the Irish ex-service men and women died off years later, so too did their place in the narrative of modern Irish history. They were largely forgotten. But now, in this brilliantly researched book, profiles of 300 of these brave Irish men and women bring them back to life so that their stories can finally be told.

Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781739789282